Music In Me
by MotoXAngels
Summary: New to Lima, Belladonna Rose is befriended by her next door neighbor Blaine Anderson. She is quickly accepted into his group of friends and the Glee Club. What happens when both Bella and Blaine start to have feelings for one another? What will Blaine tell his boyfriend? And what will Blaine do when someone else tries to steal Bella's heart?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - I do not own Glee or any of its characters, I only own my original character and her family.**

Reviews are appreciated, please let me know if you like it.

* * *

Does anyone know how it feels when it seems like the entire world and all of the cosmos is against you? When the life you have known for 17 years suddenly ends and you are thrust into a world you have never known before? How you find the missing half of your soul in the last person you ever expected, only to realize that you can never have them.

I'm hoping by telling the world my story, it will help others who are in the same situation to never give up, because you never know how your life is going to turn out. Sometimes life pulls you backwards, but just like an arrow, life will shoot you in a better direction, and if you believe enough, you just might hit your target.

My name is Belladonna Rose, and this is my story.

* * *

My life started out like anyone else's, a young girl with dreams of being a star, an older brother whom I idolized, a mother who was more beautiful than any woman I had ever seen, and a father who treated me like the princess of his world.

Ever since I was young I knew I was going to be a star. I was what my grade school choir teacher called a triple threat. I could sing, dance and act. My parents realized early on that I had a passion for performing, so like any supportive parents they did all they could to supply me with opportunities. They enrolled me in choir, dance classes and drama to further my education in the arts. I attended every concert and competition in California, my parents taking time off of work to drive me wherever I needed to be.

By the time I turned 16 I had won every competition I had entered and was well on my way to Hollywood when I graduated high school.

And that was when tragedy struck.

On the night of my final concert of junior year at the Winter Formal, my parents were driving to the school when their car was struck head on by a drunk driver, killing both of them instantly.

From that point my life spiraled out of control, I quit singing, dancing and acting. I started lashing out at everyone around me. I was angry all the time. And the worst part of all, was that no one understood. It was all my fault. My parents died because of me, and that was something that I had to live with for the rest of my life.

After a month my brother decided it would be best if I moved in with my grandparents. I was growing more belligerent and difficult for him to deal with. He felt that a change of scenery might help me heal. Truthfully I couldn't wait to get out of California, all it held for me anymore was painful memories and loss.

So here I sit on a plane bound for the tiny town of Lima, Ohio, where my mother's parents now lived. I wondered what life in a small town would bring me. Would it bring me more pain, or would it finally be the place where my heart could heal. Only time would tell.

As I disembarked the plane I found my grandparents Tanya and Allen awaiting me. I gave them a small smile, one that barely turned up the corners of my mouth before I hugged them both.

"Oh sweetheart. It is so good to see you." My nana said as she held me out at arms length. "You are beautiful, just like your mother."

"Thank you, nana." I said softly, I hadn't spoken much in the last month and if I did it was no more than a whisper. I used to be so outspoken, my voice projected so that everyone knew when I walked into a room. But now I had no reason to stand out, now I just wanted to disappear.

* * *

As we pulled into the driveway of their house I noticed how small and quaint it was, a big change from the large house I once lived in. I got out of the car and took notice of the silence surrounding me. No cars going by, no noisy city sounds, just peaceful silence and it was surprisingly calming.

I noticed as I was approaching the porch that the neighbor's house, also a two story like my grandparents, was only about 15 feet apart from my new home. A tall sturdy oak tree sat in between the two homes, large thick branches connecting the two almost like a bridge.

"Hey."

I turned to see a boy about my age and height, with black hair step off of the porch next door. He was cute with a pleasant voice that rolled off of me like honey. He was definitely my type with his hair slicked back, but as I noticed the tightness of his red pants, the white polo shirt and the adorable polka dot bowtie to complete the outfit I knew instantly that he was playing on my side of the fence. For those who don't understand that expression, it means that he's gay and therefore not attainable by me.

Forcing a smile as I had to do ever since my parent's deaths I approached the small knee high fence that separated the two yards.

"You must be my new neighbor."

"Yeah." I said softly holding out my hand. "I'm Belladonna Rose."

He grasped my hand, both of us noticing the small tingle that went up our arms as our skin touched, and smiled. "I'm Blaine Anderson."

* * *

After talking with Blaine for a few minutes I discovered that he was in fact gay, he had a boyfriend named Kurt and he was part of the Glee Club at McKinley High where I would be starting school that Monday. It was nice to know that I would have a friend at school and judging from what Blaine was telling me I would have more when he introduced me to his friends.

Bidding him goodbye after agreeing that we could walk to school together I went inside to settle in. Dragging my suitcase up the staircase I followed my grandparents to my new room. It was on the far left side of the house and surprisingly very large. My furniture had already been delivered and set up by my grandparents. I set my things on the bed and looked around the room.

"If you don't like where things are, feel free to move them around pumpkin." My papa said. "Your closet is right there and you have your own bathroom through that door."

"It's great. Thank you, papa." I said hugging him.

"So, I see you met the neighbor boy." My nana said smiling.

"Yeah, I did. He seems nice. He's gonna walk me to school on Monday."

"He's a very sweet boy, and that boyfriend of his is adorable. We have them and his parent's over every Sunday for game night."

"That sounds like fun."

"Well, we will let you get settled in. I'll call you when dinner is ready." Nana said as she kissed my forehead. "I'm so glad you're here, Bella. We both are."

"I'm glad too." I said before they exited my room and shut the door.

I sighed as I looked around my room taking note of where everything is. Through the doorway the bathroom is to my right and the closet is to my left. My bed was set up against the back wall to my right which was fine with me, closer to the bathroom. My L shaped desk sat tucked into the left corner of the room in front of me. And a large bay window was directly across the room in front of me.

Feeling the need for music I unpacked my stereo and sat it on the shelf above my bed. Hooking up my auxiliary cord I plugged my phone into it and turned on my music, letting the songs shuffle through. As I was bobbing my head along to The Vamps, one of my favorite bands, I started to unpack my clothes from my suitcase and I heard a shout from outside of my window.

Looking to my left I saw Blaine standing in the window of the house next door. He waved to me as I approached my window and opened both of the panes.

"Hey, neighbor." He smiled. "You know, you look like this ridiculously cute girl I met earlier today."

"Is that right?" I said raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah. She uh…" He placed his hand over his heart. "…she totally stole my heart."

And right then for the first time since my parent's passed, I smiled.

* * *

For the rest of the day Blaine sat on his windowsill talking to me while I unpacked and situated my things. He told me about how he had transferred schools to be with Kurt and I in turn told him that my parent's had died and that was how I ended up here. I hadn't talked to anyone about them since they had died, but Blaine was so understanding and easy to talk to that I didn't have any reservations about telling him.

Just before I went down to dinner Blaine told me about an open mic night that was being held at the local restaurant Breadsticks later that night. I had told him about my love of singing, but how I had lost the will when my parent's died. Smiling understandably, Blaine nodded moving back inside the window, but before he shut it he told me something that hit me in my heart.

"You know, even though they're in heaven, I'm sure they'd still love to hear you sing."

* * *

All through dinner I thought about Blaine's words, he was right. My parent's had loved to hear me sing, whether it was in a concert, competition or sitting around the house on a Saturday night. After dinner I had made up my mind, and after telling my grandparent's where I was going I went upstairs to get dressed.

After I was ready I picked up my car keys and walked outside to my vintage Candy Apple Red, 67' Shelby Mustang. It had been my 16th birthday gift from my parent's, the last thing they ever gave me and now my only reminder of what had been. Driving through town I thanked the lord that Blaine had told me how to get there, I found the restaurant in no time and pulled into the parking lot.

As I walked inside I noticed the majority of patrons were teens, most likely my future classmates. Glancing around I found Blaine sitting in a back corner booth surrounded by 8 other teens, one seated at the end of the table in a wheelchair. I debated going over and saying hi, but my sudden shyness that I had no idea where it came from prevented me from doing so. Seeing the hostess I walked up and told her I wanted to sign up for the open mic. Smiling at me she wrote my name down and then directed me to the stage where a young blonde girl was just finishing up.

As the patrons clapped I sat down behind the piano, I adjusted the mic in front of me, then flexing my fingers I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I hadn't sung in over a month, I was nervous. I cleared my throat earning my attention from the guests.

"Um, hi, I'm Belladonna."

Hearing my name Blaine looked up, our eyes locking from across the room. He gave me a warm smile and nodded silently giving me the strength I needed to do this.

"This song is dedicated to my parent's who passed away. A friend told me that even though they're gone, they can still hear me." I didn't want to share what exactly was said between Blain and myself, that was our memory alone. "So, this is for them."

* * *

Blaine smiled as Belladonna started to play a soft melody on the piano, he was so proud of her for doing this, he knew it must take a lot to drum up the courage to sing.

* * *

 **Every day I drive to work across Flint River bridge**

 **A hundred yards from the spot where me and grandpa fished**

 **There's a piece of his old fruit stand on the side of Sawmill Road**

 **He'd be there peelin' peaches if it was twenty years ago**

 **And what I wouldn't give**

 **To ride around in that old truck with him**

* * *

Blaine smiled, closing his eyes he listened to her sultry voice wash over him. It was different from how he heard her speak, her voice was always so quiet and soft, but hearing her sing was the opposite. Her voice was commanding, she made you sit up and take notice of her. He could only describe it as a cross between Lauren Alaina and Katy Perry.

She was a force of nature, even if she didn't realize it. She was beautiful, not in a model way, but the sweet girl next door, the one that all the guys wanted, but couldn't have. She wasn't the one night stand or date her for awhile, she was the marrying kind. The one you came home to after a long day that just made you feel like you were something more than you were. Blaine knew that if he was straight, Bella would be the one he'd spend the rest of his life with.

He loved the way her eyes lit up when she talked about her family. The way her waist length brown hair fell around her in waves as she moved. The way the corner of her mouth curled up into a tiny smirk when she was thinking about something. And he loved her style, not flashy or expensive, she could care less about labels. He realized when he looked into her closet that her wardrobe consisted of mainly jeans, t-shirts and tank tops. She didn't wear high heels like most of the girls he knew, she loved sneakers, especially high tops and she loved thick heeled boots of all kinds. Yes, Belladonna Rose was one of a kind. She was the first girl to make him wonder, what if he wasn't gay?

* * *

 **If heaven wasn't so far away**

 **I'd pack up the kids and go for the day**

 **Introduce them to their grandpa**

 **Watch 'em laugh at the way he talks**

 **I'd find my long lost cousin John**

 **The one we left back in Vietnam**

 **Show him a picture of his daughter now**

 **She's a doctor and he'd be proud**

 **Then tell him we'd be back in a couple of days**

 **In the rear view mirror we'd all watch 'em wave**

 **Yeah, and losing them wouldn't be so hard to take**

 **If heaven wasn't so far away**

 **I'd hug all three of those girls we lost from the class of '99**

 **And I'd find my bird dog Bo and take him huntin' one more time**

 **I'd ask Hank why he took those pills back in '53**

 **And Janis to sing the second verse of "Me and Bobby McGee"**

 **Sit on a cloud and visit for a while**

 **It'd do me good just to see them smile**

 **If heaven wasn't so far away**

 **I'd pack up the kids and go for the day**

 **Introduce them to their grandpa**

 **Watch 'em laugh at the way he talks**

 **I'd find my long lost cousin John**

 **The one we left back in Vietnam**

 **Show him a picture of his daughter now**

 **She's a doctor and he'd be proud**

 **Then tell him we'd be back in a couple of days**

 **In the rear view mirror we'd all watch 'em wave**

 **Yeah, and losing them wouldn't be so hard to take**

 **If heaven wasn't so far**

 **If heaven wasn't so far**

 **If heaven wasn't so far away**

 **So far away**

 **So far away**

* * *

All of Breadsticks erupted into claps and cheers as I finished my song. Looking up I saw Blaine clapping and smiling at me, he gave me a wink before waving me over to the table. Standing up I took a small bow, then I made my way over to the table where Blaine slid over and made room for me.

"That was great. I'm so proud of you." He said hugging me.

"Thank you." I said looking him in the eyes, only he knew that I wasn't just thanking him for his compliment.

Blaine then looked back up at his friend's who were curiously watching us both. "Okay, so everybody this is who I was telling you about. My new neighbor and friend, Belladonna. Bella this is my boyfriend Kurt, that's Finn and Rachel, Mercedes and Sam, Santana and Brittany, and this is Artie."

"Nice to meet you all." I said looking them each in the eyes, my shyness was slowly ebbing away thanks to Blaine.

We sat there nearly until closing time laughing and sharing stories, it was really nice to be around people that seemed to accept everyone. I guess that's what Glee was all about.

After saying goodbye to everyone I drove Blaine home, he was astonished as he saw my car. He didn't know much about cars, but he knew something beautiful when he saw it. The whole way he kept telling me that I needed to join the Glee club, and while a part of me wanted to sing again, I was still reminded that my singing is what killed my parent's.

I pulled into my driveway, bidding Blaine goodnight I went inside the house. Kissing my nana and papa I said goodnight before going upstairs and changing into my pajamas. As I laid in bed I thought about Blaine and what he had said on the drive home. **"You are not to blame and I'm sure your parent's would not want you to give up on your dreams. Think of it this way, every time you sing, sing for them and know they can hear you."**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer - I do not own Glee or any of its characters, I only own my original character and her family.**

Reviews are appreciated, please let me know if you like it.

* * *

I spent the majority of Sunday with Blaine as he showed me around town so that I was acquainted with where everything was. I was surprised that we hadn't run into any of his friends or boyfriend, but it was nice to just hang out with him alone. Knowing that it was game night at my house Blaine and I picked up Kurt on our way home. The two of them then ganged up on me, begging me to join Glee club.

As we walked into my house they still hadn't shut up about it, I shook my head and laughed as I shut the door behind us. Blaine's parent's were sitting in the living room with my nana and papa chatting. After the introductions we had a debate about what game to play, I won insisting that if I was going to join, that we were going to play one of my favorite games, Clue.

Four hours later I was being assaulted with a pillow by Blaine as I had won for the third time in a row. "You are so cheating." He claimed as he wacked me in the face with the small pillow.

I laughed as I swatted him with my own, "How do you cheat at Clue?"

"I don't know, but you are." He defended as everyone chuckled.

"No, I just have good instincts." I said sticking my tongue out at him.

"Oh, very mature, Belle." He snarked before copying me.

"Do you want to be the pot or the kettle, Blainey?" I shot back as he pulled his tongue back in his mouth, crossing his arms over his chest he huffed before sitting back against the couch.

We played one more round which I tanked on purpose and let Blaine win, even though I knew exactly who had done it. After that we all said goodnight as the three of us teens had school the next morning. Blaine and I drove Kurt home before we returned back to our houses and said goodnight.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to my radio playing, it was the best way to get woke up. I hummed along with the radio as I got dressed for school. I settled on a pair of black skinny jeans, a long sleeved red V-neck shirt and a pair of knee high black boots. Grabbing my messenger bag I went downstairs where my nana had breakfast awaiting me. After eating I heard Blaine knock on the front door, bidding my grandparents goodbye I shouldered my bag and opened the door to find Blaine smiling at me.

Instead of walking we decided to drive my car, the whole way he and I were singing along with the radio. When we got there we were greeted by Kurt and Mercedes who smiled and waved at me. Walking into the school I didn't feel nervous like I had thought I would and I knew it was because of my new friends. And I had Blaine to thank for them. We met up with Santana and Brittany by their lockers, the group talking about how the girls had missed out on doing Michael Jackson due to their competing on another team at Sectionals.

As they were talking their Glee club teacher Mr. Schuster walked up, he took their idea of doing Michael again into consideration. After he had walked away Blaine smiled saying he knew what song they should do to kick off Michael week. I was surprised as Blaine started belting out "You Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" as the others joined in. I shook my head as Blaine urged me to sing, I wasn't that confident yet but I allowed him to pull me down the hallway as he sang. I was even more surprised to see the students in the hallways bobbing along to the song, their were no irritated looks or teasing coming from anywhere. I realized that unlike most schools, Glee club was popular here.

We went into the library where Rachel was sitting with a blonde girl and a brunette Asian, both beautiful. The three started singing backup to Blaine as he continued to sing the song. Blaine then grabbed my hand as we ran down the hallways to the auditorium, where I took a seat as the group changed into different Michael outfits and proceeded to sing on the stage. I was blown away as they finished, clapping I stood up and joined them on stage.

"Bella, meet the rest of the Glee club. Quinn (the blonde), Tina (the Asian), Mike and Rory. Guys this is my new friend, Belladonna."

Just like before I was welcomed with open arms by the four, and I was really considering joining Glee if these were the people I got to spend time with everyday. After they changed out of their costumes I joined Blaine, Kurt, Rachel, Artie and Santana for coffee in between classes at the Lima Bean. We were sitting around chatting about how Michael had inspired each of us.

As we were talking a guy came up to the table, I noticed he had on the same jacket that Blaine had in several photos in his home. I realized that this was one of Blaine's former brother's from Dalton academy. He mentioned how The New Directions shouldn't do Michael for regionals as The Warblers had already claimed the artist. When asked by Rachel how he knew they were doing Michael, the boy casually mentioned that Blaine had told him. This prompted the whole table minus me to snap at Blaine which really pissed me off. Before I could snap at them Santana stood up and pointed her finger at the boy which honestly would have made any guy cower in fear.

"All right, twink, I think it's time that I show you a little Lima Heights hospitality."

"Unless you want to join your relatives in prison, that's probably not the best idea. You see, my dad is sort of what you'd call a state's attorney. But if you had a piñata you wanted delivered, I bet he could make sure that got to them. All right, so here's what you guys should know. I am captain of the Warblers now, and I'm tired of playing nice."

* * *

We returned back to school where we told the others what Sebastian, Blaine had told me about him, had said. As they were talking Mr. Schuster had approached me and let me know that I had been accepted into the Glee club. When I asked how without auditioning, he showed me a video that someone had taken of my performance at Breadsticks on Saturday night. Apparently that was all he needed to see and now I was officially part of The New Directions.

"There has to be some kind of show choir competition committee we can complain to." Tina said as we all walked into the choir room.

"I know it sucks, guys, but it's not the end of the world. Heck, you had your set list stolen the day of the competition at Sectionals, and you pulled that one off, right?" Blaine said trying to make them all feel better as he sat down in a chair and had me take the seat next to him.

"Well, they can have our Journey and our Dream girls, but pilfering my Michael, mm-mm, that's another level, not okay." Artie said as Rory wheeled him into the room.

"I'm not exactly comfortable having this conversation with Blaine in the room. Clearly, once a Warbler, always a Warbler." Puck said, I hadn't had the honor of meeting him yet, and according to Blaine, it wasn't a big deal that I hadn't.

"Uh, wh-what?" Blaine said confused.

"Dude, you told them what we were gonna do. You're like a modern-day Eggs Benedict. He's on notice as far as I'm concerned. And who exactly is the hot chick?"

I saw red as I stood up from my chair clenching my fists at my side. "My name is Belladonna, not hot chick. Blaine is my friend and I'm the girl who's gonna knock you in the mouth if you talk about him like that again."

"Okay, Rhonda Rousey, sit down." Blaine joked taking my arm and guiding me back into my seat. "No bloodshed in the choir room."

"We should all be on notice." Finn said putting the conversation back on topic. "I mean, next to Vocal Adrenaline, the Warblers are the best Glee Club in the state, and for a lot of us, this is our last shot at a championship, so we should stop complaining about the Warblers and figure out how to beat them."

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Finn. I'm less worried about our set list right now and more interested in getting us in the right mindset to crush those guys. Which is why our lesson for the week is…" Mr. Schuster says walking into the room and writing on the white board, WWMJD. "What Would Michael Jackson Do?"

"He'd fight back." Finn says. "He'd say Regionals is ours, MJ is ours, and if they want it, they can pry it from our sequin-gloved hand."

"Mm-hmm. Straight up." Artie agreed. "In 1983, MTV said they wouldn't air his "Billie Jean" video. What'd he do? He fought back. They aired it, and the Thriller album sold an additional ten million copies."

"That's right." Mr. Schuster nodded.

"I know what Michael would do." Blaine said grinning at me. "I think he would take it to the streets."

* * *

So that night I donned my black hooded leather jacket and joined my new team as we took the fight to the Warblers. In an empty parking structure myself, Santana and Blaine confronted Sebastian and the Warblers.

"Well we're here."

"We got something to settle. Both of us want to use MJ, but only one can." Blaine tells them.

"We're having a Jackson-off, Nick at Nite. Winner gets the King of Pop for Regionals." Santana adds.

"What, us against the three of you?" Sabastian chuckles. "You really think you're that bad? Is that what they teach you at that little public school of yours?"

"It's time to see who's bad." Blaine states as Santana snaps her fingers and we three are joined by the rest of our team. We start singing "Bad" as we battle and dance through the parking structure floor. I should have know that the Warblers wouldn't play fair, of course they would do anything to win. I realized this too late as Sebastian pulled a cup out of a paper bag and threw the contents, a slushy, into Blaine's face.

"Blaine!" I screamed as he hit the ground hollering in pain as he covered his eyes. Not thinking about the consequences I turned and leveled a right hook that caught Sebastian right across the side of his face. Before I could go after him again Santana grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Bella, not the time for that. We'll get them I promise."

I nodded as I dropped down to my knees beside Blaine, laying my hand on his shoulder to let him know I was there. Being as my car was the closest I drove Blaine and Kurt to the hospital, Blaine's parents met us there to check him in. Kurt and I remained in the hospital with Blaine until visiting hours were over.

* * *

The next morning I picked Kurt up from his house and drove to school, neither one of us had got much sleep that night, too worried about Blaine. We walked into the choir room where everyone was waiting to hear the update.

"How is he? Is he okay?" Rachel asked as soon as we walked in.

"Uh, it's his right eye. Uh, the doctor says that his cornea is deeply scratched and he has to have surgery." Kurt tells them solemnly as I take my seat, my eyes drifting over to Blaine's empty chair sitting beside me. I may have been accepted as an official member of the Glee club, but I felt out of place without Blaine there.

"In all my years as a teacher and a student, I have never known a slushy to do that kind of damage."

"That's 'cause it wasn't a normal slushy, Mr. Shue." Finn said. "There was stuff in it, rocks or something."

"He wanted to do that damage." Bella spoke up. "He wanted to hurt Blaine. Hurt all of us."

"Well, unless you have proof that he tampered with the slushy th-the police aren't interested in getting involved."

"Sebastian is evil. He needs to be expelled." Kurt stated before he sat down on Bella's right side.

"Look, Figgins and I spoke to Dalton's headmaster. They're opening up an investigation. So, guys, I'm telling you, please let the system handle this one."

"No. Dalton's old-school, Mr. Shue- they're not gonna turn their backs on one of their own- we need payback." Artie says.

"An eye for an eye." Mike adds the rest of us agreeing.

"No. I have a zero-tolerance policy for violence, of any kind. That's not how we do things."

Artie shakes his head, "No, we sing, and that's all we ever do."

"Do you want to get disqualified from Regionals?"

"I don't give a damn about Regionals." Artie snaps, his limits being pushed. "What do you expect from us? We're people. I know the rest of the world may not see us like that, but when they tease us and throw stuff at us and toss us in Dumpsters and tell us that we're nothing but losers with stupid dreams, it freaking hurts. And we're supposed to turn the other cheek and be the bigger man by telling ourselves that those dreams and how hard we work make us better than them, but it gets pretty damn hard to feel that way when they always get to win."

"I get how upsetting this is for you."

"No, you don't, and don't give me any of that "it gets better" crap because I'm not interested in it getting any better. I want it to be better, like, right now. I want to hurt them the way they hurt us. No, worse. I want them to feel my pain because frankly that's all I have left to give."

"Artie, take a break. We'll be here when you get back."

* * *

After Artie left I realized that just like him I was angry and upset as well. I needed some space and time to blow off some steam and there was only one way besides singing that I knew how. And right now I didn't feel like singing. "Mr. Shue, can I be excused."

Seeing my face he nodded allowing me to quickly make an exit before he continued on with class.

* * *

In another room Santana and Kurt were thinking up ways to get back at Sebastian. As they were talking Santana stopped, noticing that someone had been missing from the choir room. "Hey, where's Bella?"

* * *

It was back. The rage that I had battled my entire life had returned with a vengeance and it had consumed me. I had managed to rescind it after my parent's death's, but after seeing Blaine, my friend, the only person besides my grandparent's and brother that truly cared about me hurt, it had taken hold. Not even punching that bastard Sebastian in the face had derailed it, if anything it only made it grow stronger.

So now here I was in the weight room throwing punch after punch at the 40 pound bag. With each punch I envisioned Sebastian's face, my punches intensifying, the bag swinging back more with every hit. I punched until my hands hurt beneath the wraps, till the tears in my eyes were blurring my vision. When I had finally exhausted myself I slid down to the floor, my chest heaving as I tried to slow down my breathing. There was only one thing that was going to make me feel better. I needed to see Blaine.

* * *

I went home and took a shower, washing the sweat from my body. After changing into a pair of sweats and a tank top, I pulled my grey Michigan Wolverines sweatshirt on, the college that my brother now attended. Opening up my window I stepped out onto the roof and slowly made my way across the tree branches over to Blaine's house. Making sure he wasn't sleeping I tapped lightly on the window, waving when he saw me. He motioned for me to come in, the window was cracked open a smidge so I opened it and climbed inside his bedroom.

"Hey, how you doing?" I said as I stood beside his bed noticing the eye patch over his right eye.

"I'm okay." He smiled back. "Not really the welcome to town I was hoping you'd have."

I frowned, my emotions getting the better of me. "I'm sorry, Blaine."

He frowned then as he saw me start to cry, he opened his arms and I crawled onto the bed, lying down beside him as he wrapped his arms around me. "Hey, it's okay. I'm gonna be fine. Shh, Don't cry, Belle. Hey, pretty girls aren't supposed to cry."

I laughed hugging him around his waist before I looked up with a smile. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Of course I do. Honey, if I was straight you'd be off the market in a heartbeat." He joked.

We both laughed, I kissed his cheek and then laid my head on his shoulder as we watched the movie that was playing on his TV. An hour later Kurt stopped by, he smiled at us both as he sat down in the chair to our left. He was reading us a review for a movie when Rachel and Finn opened the door and came into the room.

"Hey. Hey, guys." Blaine smiled at them.

"We brought you, um, chicken noodle soup." Rachel said holding up a thermos. "I know it's not used to typically help eye injuries, but we figured it couldn't hurt."

"And I brought you a couple of eye-patch-featuring flicks from my collection." Finn said holding up a stack of DVD's. "I got, uh, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Valkyrie, and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow."

"Aw, thank you guys. Aw, it's so amazing; It really means a lot to me that you'd come by to check up on me." Blaine smiled as he motioned for me to grab the glasses that were sitting next to me on the nightstand. Doing so I handed them to him. "However, I cannot let a single moment pass without first raising a zero-calorie toast (can pops) to one Mr. Kurt Hummel, aka NYADA finalist. Yay. Cheers." He opens a can of pop and pours it into the glasses, handing them out to each of us.

"So, Blaine, uh, when's the surgery?" Finn asks.

Blaine sighs, "This week. Honestly, I'm terrified."

"Don't sweat it, dude. You'll heal up good as new." Finn tells him.

Rachel nods, "Yeah, and there are tons of legendary performers who've only had one eye: Sammy Davis, Jr., Columbo."

"And Stevie Wonder, he did pretty good with no eyes at all." Finn adds.

"You guys, I'm really upset that I'm missing Michael Week. It just totally sucks." Blaine says.

"Well, that's why we figured we'd bring a little bit of Michael to you." Finn says.

"Yup. Okay." Rachel adds as she takes a pitch pipe from Finn and blows out a small note.

Kurt starts singing "Ben" and the rest of us join in, Blaine smiling as he holds mine and Kurt's hands. I could swear I saw some unshed tears in his eyes as we finished.

After that Rachel and Finn took Kurt home while I stayed and watched a movie with Blaine.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to my phone buzzing. Easing out of Blaine's embrace I got out of the bed and pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was a text from Santana of all people.

'Meet me at Dalton.'

I kissed Blaine's cheek and returned to my room where I quickly got dressed, brushed my teeth and hair, then after a touch-up on my makeup I grabbed my things and went down to my car. Pulling into the Dalton parking lot I found Santana awaiting me.

"What are we doing here?" I asked as I got out of my car.

She smirked, "We're getting even."

I matched her smirk as I pulled on my black trench coat, matching the one she was wearing. She handed me a black fedora to also match hers, I pulled it on my head, "Let's play, Ms. Santana."

We walked into Dalton as if we owned it, and no one dared to stop us. Our outfits gave us the old school gangster look and we embraced it as we headed into the choir room where Sebastian and the other Warblers were congregated. I smirked as Sebastian glared at me, the black ring around his left eye clearly visible.

"Hey, Andrew McCarthy." Santana said as we approached the group of boys. "Don't know if you heard, but Blaine may lose an eye. The same Blaine who was just besties with most of you not four months ago."

"Wait, are you serious? Is he gonna be okay?" One of the boys Trent, who still considered Blaine a friend said.

"Well, sure, if he doesn't care about seeing in three dimensions."

"Trent, I got this. Bummer about Blaine, he was pretty. He shouldn't have gotten in the way, though. That slushy was meant for Kurt."

"You may look like the villain out of a cheesy '80s high school movie, but you should know that I am fully prepared to go all Danny LaRusso on your ass. Admit you put something in that slushy. What was it, huh?"

"Glass? Asphalt?" I said stepping up beside Santana providing our united front.

"Red dye number six."

"You're a liar."

"She questioned my honor. I demand satisfaction in Warbler tradition."

"You want to have a duel? Cello guys, can you hang back for a second? We're gonna need you for this one."

"Everyone else clear out. I don't want you to see me make the girl's cry."

"Let's just keep this on point."

Santana and I embraced our inner gangster as we dueled "Smooth Criminal" with Sebastian, moving around the room full of chairs. Clearly we were better than him, our voices blended together well and our presence was ten times his.

"We were better." Santana said as we finished the song.

Sebastian smirked, "You weren't even close."

"We were better. Now tell me the truth. What did you put in that slushy?"

"Rock salt but it's okay." He admitted.

"Why is it okay? We just told you that Blaine had to have surgery." I said as Santana and I followed him towards the door.

"It's okay because I didn't put anything in this one." He turned around and threw a slushy onto both of us.

* * *

After calming my nerves hitting the bag I showered getting the sweat and red slushy off of me, I then joined Santana in the choir room where we ushered the rest of the group in.

"Um, what's going on?" Rachel asked.

"We've got the Warblers right where we want them. And because he's the smoothest criminal I know, Artie was able to find a spy store that sells top-secret surveillance equipment."

"Not top-secret. I just got a tape recorder from OfficeMax."

"Okay, okay, whatever. In any case, I taped it to my under boob when we went to Dalton, and I got Sebastian on tape admitting that there was rock-salt in that slushy that blinded Blaine. Now, all we have to do is send this tape to the po-po, and that little bitchlet is headed to juvie." Santana then played the tape for every one to hear.

 _"Admit it. Tell me the truth. What did you put in that slushy?"_

 _"Rock salt."_

"No. No, we're not doing that." Kurt says adamantly.

Santana doesn't understand, "Why? Kurt, this isn't violent. This is clever. I taped it to my under boob."

Kurt gets up and comes over to stand beside Santana and myself. "So he gets kicked out of school. The Warblers still do Michael, and they still beat us. Look, I want to see Sebastian's head turning on a spit, but I've realized that you can't go looking for payback every time the world wrongs you. If Michael went after all the haters, he would have never had any time to do all that amazing music. So, we're not gonna punish the Warblers. We're gonna teach them a lesson, and I think I know how. I've reserved the auditorium, so if you all just follow me."

"Oh, wait." Santana snaps. "If Kurt would have taped this to his junk, I would have never heard the end of it. We would have had a whole week of songs about it."

I grabbed Santana and drug her towards the auditorium, we at least owed it to Kurt to see what he had planned. "Come on, I know, it was a genius idea."

The Warblers were just entering the auditorium as we all took the stage. "Nice of you to show." Artie tells them.

"Is whatever this is gonna take long? I can't stand the stench of public schools." Sebastian snarks.

"It won't take long, and all you have to do is sit and listen." Quinn tells them as they all take a seat.

"We're not doing Michael for Regionals." Artie says.

"I didn't think you'd surrender that easily."

"We're tired of the fighting and the backstabbing. We're show choirs. We're supposed to be supportive of each other." Kurt tells them.

"This is what we call taking the high road, which I was shocked to find out has nothing to do with marijuana." Puck adds.

Artie nods, "Just because you're doing Michael doesn't mean you understand Michael."

"And you do?"

"Yes. And we're about to show you." I say as the band starts to play "Black and White". As we near the end of the song the majority of the Warblers join us on stage dancing and singing along with us.

As the song ends Sebastian, the only person who didn't join us, still sitting in his seat claps condescendingly. "Very moving."

"Come on, Sebastian." One of his brother's says. "Give it up."

"That is the kind of attitude that lost us Regionals last year." Sebastian tells him.

"I could call the cops or your headmaster and get you kicked out of school or even arrested for assaulting Blaine with that slushy." Santana tells him.

"All of this would be just awfully terrifying if you had any proof whatsoever."

"You mean like you on tape admitting to it?" I say with a fake gasp taking the tape from Santana and handing it to Kurt.

"But you know what? It just wouldn't be as much fun winning Regionals if you weren't there to suffer through all the agony of defeat." Kurt tells him before tossing the tape to him.

"At least now, all your teammates get to know exactly what kind of guy you are." I tell him smiling along with my team.

"Now get the hell out of my auditorium." Artie says. "School's out!"

* * *

The next morning I got a call from Blaine asking me if I would come to the hospital with him for his surgery. I gladly accepted, but I couldn't help but wonder why he wasn't asking Kurt to be there for him. However I figured he had a good reason so I headed down to the hospital to see him.

His mother and father smiled at me as I walked into the room, Blaine's face lighting up in a smile as he saw me.

"We'll leave you two to talk." His mother said getting up from her chair. She paused beside me leaning down to whisper in my ear. "Thank you for being here. That's the first time he has smiled in two days." Giving me a hug she and her husband left the room.

I walked over to Blaine's bedside, he patted the bed next to him so I sat down on the edge. "How you doing, B?"

"I'm okay. I'm really nervous, Belle. What if the doctor's can't fix it? What if something goes wrong? What if I lose my sight permanently?"

"Shh." I said placing a finger to his lips halting his rambling. "You are going to be fine. Your doctor is one of the best eye surgeons in the country. He's gonna fix you up and you'll be back to normal in no time." He didn't seem convinced so my only other alternative was to try and make him smile. "And in the event that something does go wrong, you'll be without a doubt the sexiest pirate ever." I said giving him a wink and it worked as he laughed, before pulling me into a hug.

"Oh, thanks for being here, Belle. I couldn't get through this without you."

His admission made me smile even more, and I thanked God that I had moved in next door to him. He was quickly becoming my best friend.

"You really think I'm sexy?" He suddenly asked, and I wasn't sure if he was serious or joking with me.

I pulled back looking him in the eyes, "Baby please, if I had the ability to turn a gay man straight, you'd be at the top of my list."

We both laughed as the door opened and the doctor walked in, seeing us he smiled. "You ready, Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine sighed, "Yeah."

He looked over at me and I nodded giving him one last hug, "I'll be right here when you get out."

After the doctor's wheeled Blaine out to surgery, I joined his mother and father in the waiting room. It would be a few hours before he would be in the recovery room, so I took my books out of my backpack and set out doing my homework. I was ahead in all of my classes so my grandparent's said it would be fine for me to miss a few days of school, so I could be there with Blaine while he recovered. They knew what Blaine meant to me and they were grateful that I had a friend that could take my mind off of my parent's.

It still hurt to think about them, but now that I had Blaine and Glee club, the pain that I had was slowly diminishing. Though the wounds I held in my heart were still fresh, Blaine was like my own personal Band-Aid. He made me laugh and smile, he gave me back my voice and his friendship was repairing my damaged heart.

Two hours later the doctor came out and reported that Blaine's surgery had went well and he would have a full recovery. "You can go see him now if you want."

I followed Blaine's parent's into the room where he was recovering, he was still sleeping due to the anesthetic he had been given. I walked over to the side of the bed, brushing a tendril of his hair off of his forehead.

His mother smiled at me, "We're gonna go get some coffee sweetheart, we'll be back shortly. You take care of him, okay."

"Yes, mam." I smiled as I sat down in the chair beside the bed. I was reading through my history book when I heard Blaine speak.

"Hey."

I looked up to see him lying in bed smiling at me, I put my book down and stood up beside the bed. "Hey handsome. How you feeling?"

He nodded lightly, "Better. Doc says I should be fine in a couple of days and I should be able to go home later today."

"That's good news. I'm happy for you."

Blaine and I sat there watching the TV until his parent's and the doctor came in to discharge him. I followed them home in my car, parking in my driveway I walked over and helped Blaine out of the car. He took my hand as I walked with him through the house and up to his room. I helped him get settled into bed covering him up before I went downstairs to get him something to drink.

Like the day before I sat beside him on the bed, his head lying on my shoulder as we watched TV. A thought had been wandering through my mind and I had to voice it. "Hey, Blaine. Why did you ask me to be at the hospital with you instead of Kurt?"

"I love Kurt, but he tends to be overly emotional at times and I really didn't want him fussing over me."

"But it's okay if I fuss over you?" I giggled.

"Yep." He said popping the "p".

I shook my head as I smiled, it was nice to be needed by someone, and I felt honored to be the one he chose to be with him while he recovered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer - I do not own Glee or any of its characters, I only own my original character and her family.**

Reviews are appreciated, please let me know if you like it.

* * *

Over the next couple of days I checked on Blaine before I went to school and brought him his homework afterwards. We sat around laughing and watching movies until the late hours of the night.

Valentine's Day rolled around and not wanting to be surrounded by the lovey dovey couples in Glee club, I chose to skip school that day. Blaine had suckered me into watching several sappy love movies, he threw me his best puppy dog eyes and I couldn't say no. So here we sat watching Casablanca, which was one of my favorite movies though I didn't let Blaine know that, while we ate popcorn.

"So are you going to Sugar's party tonight?" Blaine asked me.

I had met Sugar earlier that week, a little on the ditsy side, but she was sweet and I liked her. "I thought about it, but I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"Cause it's Valentine's, and I don't have a date, it'd be weird. Plus Sugar said we all had to have dates to attend. So that counts me out."

"Well, I know for a fact that you do have a date."

I raised my eyebrow at him, "Oh I do? Please do tell."

He tossed the covers off of him to reveal he was actually dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater vest with a white undershirt. "Me. My last checkup went great and the doctor said I'm 100% better."

I smiled as he pulled the bandage off and looked at me with both of his beautiful honey brown eyes. "That's amazing."

"Yeah, it is." He said as he pulled me up off of the bed. "So, why don't you go home and get ready and we'll head down there."

"Okay." I said hugging him and then going home to change my clothes. I pulled on a pair of tight red jeans, my black suede ankle boots and a long sleeved black V-neck shirt. As I grabbed my jacket I heard a knock on the front door, I went down and opened it, Blaine stood on the other side with a single stemmed rose.

"Ready to go my lady?" He said as he held out the flower to me.

I smiled taking it from him, "Yes I am."

I shut the door and hooked my arm around his headed for my car, Blaine stopped me just before I got to my driver's side door. "Belle, wait. There's something I wanted to give you, without everyone around. I know we've only been friends a few weeks, but you mean a lot to me. I connect with you in a way I've never connected with anyone, not even Kurt. You are my best friend, of that I have no doubts. Thank you for being by my side through all of this. And I promise that I will be by your side to help you through anything."

He pulled a long black box out from behind his back, opening it I gasped raising my hands to my mouth. "Blaine, it's beautiful." There on the black velvet laid a platinum gold necklace, a heart in the middle with a diamond in the center of it and two "B's" flanked the heart one on either side. I tried not to cry as he took the necklace out of the box and motioned for me to turn around. I did, letting down my hands as he laid the thin chain around my neck and clasped it.

I turned around and threw my arms around him, hugging him tight. He returned the hug, pulling away he saw the small tears trailing down my face. "Hey, hey, hey, what did I say about pretty girls?" He smiled wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

"Pretty girls don't cry." I smiled. "But these are tears of happiness. Thank you, Blaine. I feel so beautiful with it on."

"You are beautiful without it, it just adds to your beauty."

"Okay, let's go before you make me cry anymore." I laughed as we got into the car and pulled out of the driveway heading to Breadsticks.

* * *

At the restaurant The God squad, comprised of members of the Glee club, Joe, Mercedes, Quinn and Sam sang a love song dedicated to Brittany from Santana. Afterwards Sugar got up on stage and announced their next act for the night.

As she was speaking no one saw myself and Blaine slip inside the doors until Sugar announced us. "Jesus! Holla! Okay, everyone, it's time for my extra-special guests, back from the dead along with his bestie Bella, and cute and compact as ever!" She pointed to the door where myself and Blaine turned around, a red velvet heart eyepatch on his face.

"Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! This song is dedicated to all the lovers in the room." Blaine said as he pulled off the eyepatch, then he took my hand and we made our way up to the stage.

 **If you see a faded sign at the side of the road, that says 15 miles to the—**

 **Love Shack!** Mercedes sang as she, Rachel and Brittany joined us on stage. **Love Shack, yeah, yeah. I'm headin' down the Atlanta highway. Looking for the love getaway, headed for the love getaway.**

Blaine took the lead as us girls backed him up on vocals. **I got me a car, It's as big as a whale. And we're headin' on down to the Love Shack. I got me a Chrysler It seats about 20, so hurry up and bring your jukebox money.**

 **The Love Shack is a little old place where We can get together. Love Shack, baby.**

Blaine holds up his mic for Kurt to sing, but Kurt waves him off, instead picking up his own mic and singing. **Love Shack, baby.**

Blaine grabs Kurt by his tie and pulls him up to the stage as us girls sing. **Love Shack, that's where it's at Love Shack, that's where it's at.**

Kurt grabs a mic-stand and sings the next verse with Blaine dancing behind him. **Hop in my Chrysler, it's as big as a whale And it's about to set sail. I got me a car, it seats about 20, so, come on and bring your jukebox money.**

 **The love shack The love shack is a little old place Little old place Where we can get together. Love shack, baby.**

Blaine grabs my hand and pulls me off of the stage starting a conga train around the room as we sing. **A love shack, baby.**

 **Oh, love shack, love shack Oh Love shack Love shack Love, baby, that's where it's at. Bang, bang, bang on the door, baby.**

 **Knock a little louder, Sugar!** Blaine sings to Sugar who is up on one of the tables stomping along with the rest of us.

 **Bang, bang! On the door, baby!**

 **I can't hear you!** Blaine sings even louder.

 **Bang, bang!**

 **On the door, baby.**

 **Bang, bang!**

 **Your what?!** Blaine sings.

 **Tin roof!** Kurt answers. **Rusted!** As he sings heart shaped balloons start falling from the ceiling.

 **Love Shack, yeah Love shack, love shack Love shack Love, baby That's where it's at, yeah Love, baby Love shack That's where it's at Huggin' and a kissin'.**

 **At the love shack.** Blaine ends the song as we all laugh and keep dancing the night away.

* * *

The next morning I joined Kurt and Rachel at the Lima Bean for some coffee and wedding planning. I found out that Finn had proposed to Rachel and they were planning on getting married in the upcoming months. So there we sat drinking our coffees and looking through magazines for the perfect wedding dress for Rachel. I heard a voice over my right shoulder, my jaw and fists immediately clenched as I recognized it to be Sebastian's.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't a young Barbra Streisand, an old Betty White and a wanna be Rhonda Rousey. Where is Gay Cyclops? Still trying to stumble his way in?"

"We can't come here anymore." Kurt said as I closed my eyes trying to will my temper into check.

"Rachel, I, uh, brought an engagement gift for you."

"Hmm. Okay." Rachel said taking the envelope from Sebastian.

"Whoa." Kurt said as she pulled the photo inside out. "Oh, whoa, whoa!"

"Oh, my God!" Rachel exclaimed. "Oh, no, that is— that is Photoshopped. His thing is not that small or or brown."

"And he could never fit into those pumps." Kurt added.

"Just think, from now until eternity, every time someone Googles Finn Hudson, they'll be treated to that and dozens just like it. That's the beauty of the Internet. It stays with us forever."

"What do you want, Sebastian?" Rachel snaps.

"I want a guaranteed Regionals win, so I want you to drop out. McKinley gets home-court advantage this year. You're going to come down with Asian bird flu or whatever Tina Blowing-Wang just had."

"But that is show choir terrorism."

"You give a bad name to the entire gay community." Kurt stated.

"And you give the gay community cutting-edge fashion that's usually only seen on Puerto Rican pride floats."

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you. I was distracted by your giant horse teeth."

"You have 24 hours to drop out, Rachel, or I press the upload button."

* * *

We went back to school and despite my disagreement with the idea Rachel showed the photo to Finn, who then stated he was going to beat Sebastian's ass.

"That's it. I'm done. I'm leaving this classroom, and I'm going to beat that Sebastian kid's ass!" Finn headed for the door with Blaine, Puck and myself behind him, if there was gonna be a fight, I was gonna back my team up.

"Finn, chill." Mr. Shue said trying to diffuse the situation.

"No, I'm not going to chill. I— I'm done chilling."

Artie rolls into the room, the choir rule book in his hands as he reads from it. "The official show choir rule book states that "any real or perceived threat of violence, vandalism or humiliation will be met with a swift and unquestioned disqualification of the threatening party's team with extreme prejudice." It's right here. Page 72, by-law 15, section six, article 44."

"Guys, I contacted the headmaster of Dalton." Mr. Shue said.

"Like you did when Sebastian almost blinded me? What did they do then? Same thing as they're going to do now nothing." Blaine stated.

"Look, none of this matters now anyways, okay? We're not going to let him beat us like this. I'm going to perform at Regionals." Rachel said shocking me with her dismissal of the seriousness of the situation.

"Even if he's going to post a photo like this of me if you do?"

"Finn, I'm not going to negotiate with terrorists." She said and I wanted nothing more than to punch her in the face right then. I didn't understand how she could even consider doing something like that to the man she loves and is going to marry.

"If someone posted a picture like that of me online, I'd probably kill myself." Sugar said.

"Twice to be sure I was dead." Rory added.

Mr. Shue held up his hands, "Look, you guys are just going to have to deal with things like this. The more successful you get, the more garbage people are going to make up about you. They're going to love to tear you down."

But Finn wasn't listening to him, he was staring at Rachel, an incredulous look on his face. "I can't believe you would do that to me."

"I'm going to be married to you. Don't you think I'm going to suffer the consequences as well? I mean, I just I don't care about stuff like that. I love you, and we'll we'll manage this together. Okay, the important thing right now is that we win."

"So you wouldn't care if I Photo shopped a photo of you like this and put it on the Internet?"

"Look, our future depends on us winning Regionals. It'll help me towards my NYADA application. Hmm."

"Hope you get in." Finn said before he walked out of the door, and truthfully, I didn't blame him one bit.

* * *

After class had been excused I went looking for Blaine, I hadn't seen him since Finn had walked out earlier. I had an inclination of where he might be so I went to the auditorium and found him pacing the stage.

"You okay? You seemed upset. And if Sebastian thinks—"

"Forget about Sebastian!" He snapped throwing his hands up, he must have seen something on my face that bothered him because he softened his voice. "I'm not mad at you. I just don't want to waste any more time on him. I-I want to focus on winning. I've got a new song I want to try out. The theme for Regionals is "Inspiration," and I think this fits the bill. You want to hear it?"

I nodded with a smile as I sat down on a stool at the front of the stage as Blaine took center stage and started to sing. The song was beautiful and so moving, the words held such a deep and powerful meaning. I clapped when he finished, "That was beautiful. I think you should pitch it to Mr. Shue."

He smiled giving me a hug, we then headed back to the choir room where Mr. Shue told us that David Karofsky, one of the guys who had bullied Kurt for being gay and then turned out to be gay himself, had tried to commit suicide. As the team talked about suicide and David I felt myself shaking. Unconsciously I tugged at the sleeves of my long sleeved shirt pulling them down and gripping my fingers around them. Not being able to handle the weight of the situation, feeling as though the room was closing in on me I got up and hurried out of the room. I could hear Blaine calling me, but I kept running until I was out of the school.

I didn't want to run from him, but I knew that if I stopped he was going to ask me why I left and I couldn't bare the thought of how he would look at me when he found out the truth.

* * *

I got a text from Santana telling me that she, Brittany, Blaine and Kurt were going to see Sebastian about the blackmail photos. She asked me to join them, but I declined saying I had some errands to run for my grandparent's. Truthfully all I was doing was sitting on my windowsill listening to the radio play.

* * *

At the Lima Bean the group of four approached Sebastian who was sitting by himself doing his classwork. "Let me break it down for you, from one bitch to another. All this vicious, underhanded crap has got to stop." Santana told him point blank.

"Exactly. That's why I called you here. First of all Blaine, I am sorry about your eye."

"That means nothing to me." Blaine stated not willing to except his apology.

"Just give me a chance. I have no excuses, other than a lame prank got completely out of control. Second, the Finn photos have all been destroyed. I want the Warblers to win fair and square. And we're gonna take donations for Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation. Win, lose or draw, we're gonna dedicate our performance to Dave Karofsky. I thought you might want to join us."

"Wait for the punch, you know it's coming." Kurt says.

"No, not this time. For too long I have treated everything like a big joke."

What he means is a conversation he once had with David at the arcade, and he was less than nice to the man as he asked Sebastian for advice.

 _"So, how do you get a guy to like you?" Dave asked._

 _"You, get a guy? Please." Sebastian laughed._

 _"Why, what's wrong with me? First off, you're about 100 pounds overweight, quit waxing your eyebrows, you look like Liberace. In fact, just stay in the closet, buddy."_

"It's all fun and games until it's not." Sebastian said looking truly apologetic for what he had done.

* * *

After that Blaine headed over to Bella's house, he was worried and needed to find out what was wrong with her. Knocking on the door he was greeted by her nana, "Hey Tanya, is Bella here?"

She smiled at him, "Yeah, she's in her bedroom. She's really upset, Blaine, so go easy on her."

He nodded as he headed up the stairs and knocked on her bedroom door.

* * *

I looked up as I heard a knock on my door, "Come in." I knew before it opened that it was Blaine, I knew he would come find me and I had been trying to find a way to tell him what was wrong without him freaking out and leaving me.

"Hey." He said as he stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him. He walked over and sat down on the bench that sat below my window. "Are you okay? You looked really upset after Mr. Shue told us about David." I just shook my head, not knowing what to say at that moment. "You wanna tell me?" He asked softly.

I bit my lip as I searched for the words, I wanted nothing more than to tell him my secret, but my fear of him looking at me in pity or worse walking away prevented me.

He must have noticed my internal battle because he took my hands in his and squeezed them. "Hey, you know you can tell me anything right? I won't judge you and I'm not going anywhere until you are okay."

I sighed, letting out a deep breath as I looked into his eyes. "Pull up my sleeves."

Blaine looked confused for a moment before he let go of my hands and did as I said. Pulling up the sleeves of my shirt he frowned as his eyes fell on the two small lines that crossed both of my wrists. They were scarred over by now, he lightly ran his thumbs over them as he held my wrists in his hands. "Why Belle?"

"My parent's." I said in a whisper, as tears clouded my eyes. "I told you they died, but I didn't tell you how. It was my last concert of the year, the Winter Formal. They were on their way to the high school when they were hit by a drunk driver, both of them were killed instantly." Tears cascaded down my cheeks as Blaine squeezed my wrists giving me comfort. "I couldn't take the pain, knowing that I was responsible for their death's ate away at me. So, I tried to end it. I went and sat down in my bathtub, took a razor and cut my wrists. Luckily for me, my brother came home and found me, he rushed me to the hospital and saved my life. I know now that it was stupid, but at the time I couldn't bear the thought of living without them."

Blaine got up and sat down on the windowsill beside me still holding my hands. "How do you feel now?"

"I feel like I'm home, like I'm a part of something, and I've got friends worth living for." I said as I looked at him, really he was the one thing that was giving me a reason to stay alive. But I knew I didn't need to tell him that, just by looking in his eyes, he already knew.

He pulled me in hugging me as he said, "Bella, I would never put you down for what you did. Anyone that had to live through what you did, would probably have done the same thing. It doesn't make you weak. You're alive, and stronger than you were before. Don't hide your scars, because they are a part of you, they are proof that you are stronger than whatever tries to break you."

* * *

After our talk Blaine and I returned to the school for a Glee club meeting that Mr. Shue organized. The two of us walked into the auditorium and took a seat on the stage to Mr. Shue's right. None of us missed the fact that he was holding a jar of peanut butter in his hand.

"Mr. Shue, why do you have a jar of peanut butter with one spoon?" Mercedes questioned, asking the one thing we were all wondering.

"Yeah, there are 15 of us here, and I'm only comfortable sharing a spoon with about half of you." Sugar said.

"Well, it's come to my attention that our good friend Rory Flanagan has never tasted peanut butter."

"What?! Are you serious? No way. It's not possible." All of us exclaimed.

"Rory, if you don't mind." Mr. Shue said as he and Rory stood up, Mr. Shue spooned out a glob of the delicious food and handed it to Rory who placed it in his mouth.

"Oh, God— Oh, my God— That's the best thing I've ever had."

"Mr. Shuster, wow, that's incredibly moving, um it's kind of been an emotional week for some of us." Kurt said interrupting.

"Yeah, Mr. Shue, what's the point of all this?" Finn asked.

"The point is Rory just had a brand-new experience, something as simple as peanut butter. You guys are young. I want you to promise me that, no matter how depressed you get, no matter how hopeless or alone you feel, you'll try your best to imagine all of the amazing experiences you have ahead of you."

Blaine squeezes my hand that he is holding, I look over giving him a smile, a silent promise to what Mr. Shue was asking us.

"Mr. Shue, look, I know we're a little dramatic sometimes, but I don't think anyone will ever consider taking their own life." Mercedes tells him.

"I did. Junior year. That was a tough year. I, uh, I cheated on my math midterm. Peeked at the answers of the guy next to me and the teacher saw me do it."

"Just 'cause you got caught cheating? I get caught cheating all the time." Puck states.

"They called my dad at his office, and he was coming to pick me up. How was I supposed to look him in the eye? I just kept, picturing my dad, so disappointed in me. So I walked up to the roof. I went right to the edge. One step and all the pain and humiliation would be over."

"Is that true?" Kurt asked.

"That day, I promise you, it felt like it was the end of the world. But you know what? It wasn't. You know, for some of you, getting caught cheating isn't a big deal. But there's something, everyone has something that might take them up to that edge. And look at all the things I would've missed out on. I would've never met you guys or Emma. I would've missed out on everything. So, right now, I want you all to think of something that you're looking forward to. Big things."

"Someday, I want to earn enough money to buy my folks a new place, so they don't ever have to go through losing their home again." Sam says.

"I'm most looking forward to meeting Rachel Berry's children." Mercedes adds as we all smile.

"I want to be there to see my kid's first steps." Artie smiles.

"I want to be there to see Sex and the City Part III." Sugar says.

"Wow." Mr. Shue chuckles.

Puck sighs, "I'm sort of embarrassed to admit it, but I really do want to graduate high school."

"I'm gonna petition the Army to change my dad's dishonorable discharge status to an honorable one." Finn says.

"I'm looking forward to graduating from Yale at the top of my class." Quinn says next.

Santana goes next. "I'm looking forward to the day when my grandmother loves me again."

"I want Lord Tubbington to kick his Ecstasy addiction." Brittany says as we all shake our heads at her silliness.

"I am looking forward to marriage equality in all 50 states." Blaine says as I nod agreeing with him.

"I'm looking forward to seeing my brother graduate college and one day finding my soulmate." I say earning smiles from everyone.

"I'm looking forward to the first time I dance at Carnegie Hall." Mike says.

"I just want a song." Tina adds as we laugh with her.

"I'm looking forward to watching my dad make a difference in Congress." Kurt tells us.

"I'm looking forward to being friends with all of you for the rest of my life." Rachel says.

"I know this sounds silly, and the peanut butter really is amazing, Mr. Shue, but do you know what I'm looking forward to? Winning at Regionals." Rory said and we all cheered and clapped.

* * *

We were sitting in our seats as they introduced the judges for regionals, I was fidgeting with my bracelets. I had agreed to wear the dress, but I was still subconscious about my scars so I put the bracelets on to try and hide them. I was so nervous, this would be the first competition I had been in since my parent's died, and I was starting to feel like I couldn't do it. All I could picture was standing on stage at the Winter Formal, looking out at my parent's empty chairs and wondering why they weren't there yet.

I was so angry with them, I was cussing them out in my head as I performed. After the concert I had called them both and left extremely angry voicemails that I'm thankful they never got to hear. It wasn't until a teacher approached me with a police officer that I realized why my parent's hadn't made it.

The Warblers were up first and myself along with my whole team stood up and clapped along with their song. One of the other choirs asked Finn why we were cheering on our competition. "Why are you cheering your competition?"

"Life's too short. You should try it. Come on. Get up!" Finn yelled.

By the end of the song we had the entire auditorium standing up and clapping to the song. After their first song was over Sebastian took center stage to say a little something. "Thank you. Just a reminder to please make a donation to one of our charity baskets. We're set up all around the auditorium. Just look for the Dalton blazer. Please give what you can."

They moved into their next song and this time it was myself and Blaine who stood up first to cheer them on. After their last song we headed backstage to get ready to perform. I was panicking as I stood in the choir room, I wasn't sure I could do this. Blaine came up in front of me and took my hands, "Hey. You're gonna be fine."

"I don't think I can do this, Blaine. The last time I sang two people I loved died."

"Hey." He said placing his hands on my face. "No one is leaving you again. Everything is gonna be fine. Close your eyes." I did as he asked. "Picture your parent's. Anytime you feel like you can't do this, just close your eyes and picture them in the audience cheering you on."

I opened my eyes and smiled before hugging him. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Belle."

He smiled before we joined the rest of the group for our show circle. "All right, guys, listen up." Mr. Shue said moving into the room. "Don't let them get into your heads, okay? Stay focused on what we do best."

"Show circle time, come on, let's huddle up!" Artie clapped bringing us all in.

"Okay, uh - Oh, Finn, you wanted to start us off?" Mr. Shue said.

"Yeah. I know it's kind of short notice, but after the competition, Rachel and I are gonna get married. At the Justice of the Peace, at the Lima Municipal Center." Finn said.

"There will be some light refreshments afterwards, My dads and I were rolling finger sandwiches all night long."

"With everything that's happened lately, we thought a lot about what Mr. Shue said. We didn't want to wait anymore. We just want to live every day like it's our last. So we wanted to thank a lot of you guys that were supportive of our decision to get married."

"And-and for those of you who maybe weren't the biggest fans of our impending nuptials, we thank you also." Rachel added. "So after we win, we would really love it if all of you would come to our wedding."

"Come on, bring it in!" Mr. Shue said placing in hand in the center of the circle.

We all followed suit and then shouted, "A-mazing!"

 **I came to win To fight To conquer To thrive I came to win To survive To prosper To rise To fly To fly.**

 **Uh Yo Yo I used to think that I could not Go on**

 **I wish today, it would rain all day Maybe that would kind of make the pain go away**

 **And life was nothing but an awful song**

 **They got they guns out, aimin' at me But I become near when they aimin' at me.**

Blaine starts rapping and I can't help but smile as I sing beside him.

 **Me, me, me against them Me against enemies, me against friends Somehow they both seem to become one A sea full of sharks, and they all smell blood They start coming and I start rising Must be surprising, I'm just surmising I win, thrive, soar, higher, higher, higher, more fire.**

 **I came to win To fight To conquer To thrive I came to win To survive To prosper To rise**

 **I believe I can fly**

 **To fly**

 **I believe I can touch the sky Ohh I believe I can fly**

 **Fly**

 **I believe I can touch the sky I believe I can fly**

 **Get ready for it Get ready for it**

 **When I can be it If I just believe it**

 **Get ready for it Get ready for it**

 **There's nothing to it Get ready for it**

 **I believe I can fly I believe I can touch the sky**

 **I think about it every night and day Spread my wings and fly away**

 **I believe I can soar**

 **Get ready for it Get ready for it**

 **I see me running Through that open door**

 **I believe I can fly**

 **Get ready for it**

 **I believe I can fly**

 **I believe I can fly.**

The crowd rose to its feet to clap for us as we finished the song, then the boys left the stage as us girls broke into "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger". We brought the crowd to its feet once again with a dose of girl power. Then we blew the roof off of the building with our version of Halestorm's "Here's to Us".

We nervously stood on stage as the winners were announced. "And now the moment you've all been waiting for. The 2012 Midwest Regional Champion from McKinley High, the New Directions!"

Blaine grabbed me around the waist spinning me around as our whole team cheered. We saw Sebastian smiling at us, so we walked over and both shook his hand.

* * *

After the competition I changed into a different dress and my black ankle boots to join Blaine and the others at Rachel and Finn's wedding. Even though I hadn't known them that long I considered them my friend's and I wanted to show my support for them.


End file.
